EVANSVILLE, Ind. — After taking a deserved summer vacation, HOOKnSHOOT returned Saturday night with their fourth show of the year, "New Wind."

In the main event, Hermes Franca completed his journey to the top of HOOKnSHOOT’s 145-pound featherweight division, conquering champion Anthony Hamlett in the first round to claim the title. From his back, the American Top Team standout looked to clasp a triangle choke on the titleholder, but Hamlett defended and tried to gain side control. Not only did Franca prevent the maneuver, he soon reversed Hamlett and climbed into the mount. Smelling gold, Franca then pounded his opponent with rights and lefts [pictured] until the match was stopped.

The victory marked Franca’s fourth fight in HOOKnSHOOT. He finished all of his foes on the road to the title, submitting the first three in addition to his win by strikes Saturday night. Afterward, an amiable Franca called the promotion his "sweet home away from home." He also promised that no one would be taking his belt anytime soon.

On the undercard, Yves Edwards returned to HOOKnSHOOT after a three-fight venture into the UFC. It was clear that his opponent, eighth-ranked Shooto welterweight Kohei Yasumi, was in serious trouble after Edwards easily stopped an early takedown attempt. Forcing Yasumi to stand, Edwards then uncorked a left hand that dropped his adversary and ended the lightweight fight in a mere 20 seconds.

Despite his impressive performance, Edwards could not outdo John Renken’s work from earlier in the evening. Facing UFC veteran Curtis Stout in a middleweight bout, Renken surprised many by choosing to stand with the talented striker. Both fighters came out firing, but after only 11 seconds, Renken launched a head kick with his left leg that instantly knocked out Stout. Reminiscent of Francisco Bueno’s fall when nailed by Igor Vovchanchyn, Stout’s arms folded to his side as he fell to the canvas unconscious.

In middleweight action, Dustin Denes tallied another win for American Top Team by gaining a unanimous decision over Izuru Takeuchi. Denes [pictured mounted on Takeuchi] controlled the fight by flowing through various positions on the ground. The second round was his most dominant, as the fourth-ranked Shooto light heavyweight could not prevent Denes from twice passing his guard and taking the mount. From there, Denes landed short shots to Takeuchi’s face while maintaining the position.

The second of two women’s bouts belonged to Tara LaRosa. Snapping a crisp jab coupled with sharp low leg kicks, LaRosa picked apart game challenger Angela Wilson on the feet. When the match went to ground, LaRosa was just as impressive. After quickly passing the half guard, LaRosa took the mount and hammered Wilson with punches to force a stoppage just before the end of the first round.

In a much slower paced women’s fight, Chris Van Fleet won a majority decision against Tanya Vlahac. Although the action was lacking, only a few jeers ran through the respectable Evansville audience.

Those same fans roared to life when local fighter Scott Henze marched to the ring for a light heavyweight match. Henze delivered, submitting Steve Van Fleet with a key lock in the first round.

Also on the undercard, Nick Agallar defeated Darrell Smith by unanimous decision in a lightweight fight. Agallar landed several hard shots from inside Smith’s guard to sway the judges.

Ryan Ackerman successfully returned to HOOKnSHOOT after a hard fought draw against Mike Cardoso in May. The 145-pound fighter from Canton, Illinois was again impressive, submitting Mike Lloyd with a kimura shoulder lock.

Joseph Baize used a rear-naked choke to finish Luke Pedigo in a middleweight bout that opened the show.

posted by Full Contact Fighter @ 8:00 pm

Have a comment about this story? Please share with us by filling out the fields below.